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The Depot Move

Forty years ago, on a warm summer night in June, the old Wilmette train depot began its slow final journey, leaving its place on the west side of the railroad tracks at twilight for a new home on the site of a former Village parking lot three blocks away, on Wilmette Avenue. A big crowd of well-wishers showed up to cheer it on its way. Those who were there in 1974 still talk about the carnival atmosphere of “the depot move,” one of the most extraordinary sights that old downtown Wilmette has ever seen.